Zdeno Chara officially announces his retirement

Longtime NHL defenseman Zdeno Chara has officially announced his retirement from professional hockey after 24 seasons.

After 25 seasons of professional hockey 1,680 NHL regular season games, 200 Stanley Cup Playoff games, and hundreds of international games I am proud to announce my decision to retire from the National Hockey League. In doing so, I am honored to return to TD Garden today to sign a one-day contract with the Boston Bruins and officially finish my career with the team that has meant so much to me and my family. There are so many people that have helped contribute to my success, including all of you, and I look forward to properly thanking everyone this afternoon.

Thank you,
Big Zee

Chara ends his career as a 6 time All-Star, a Norris Trophy and a Stanley Cup championship. Not bad, not bad at all.

He put up 209 goals and 680 points in 1,680 career regular season games and 18 goals and 52 points in a remarkable 200 career Stanley Cup Playoff games. He captained the 2011 Boston Bruins to their first Stanley Cup championship in 39 years and will likely go down in history as the biggest man to ever step on NHL ice. He's a sure fire Hall of Famer and an absolute legend of the sport. Much respect, Big Zee.

And if that weren't enough fanfare, Chara will sign a one day contract with the Bruins later this afternoon so that he can officially retire as a member of the team.

BOSTON - The Boston Bruins announced today, September 20, that Zdeno Chara will sign a one-day contract with the team to officially retire from the National Hockey League as a member of the Boston Bruins.

Chara will hold a press conference to officially sign the contract and announce his retirement at TD Garden on Tuesday, September 20 at 12 p.m.

Something tells me that Big Zee is still hungry to play though, so the Bruins might want to check the terms on that contract before they sign off on it officially...